2026 Archives - Skin Aging & Challenges 2026

We are pleased to announce Prof. John A. Rogers from Northwestern University, USA, will join the meeting and will present a talk about Next-Generation Skin-Interfaced Sensors: From Skin Gases to Continuous Biological Monitoring.

Miniaturized, Soft Wireless Sensors for Skin Care

Recent advances in millimeter-scale wireless electronic devices and soft, skin-compatible sensors serve as the foundations for an array of new technologies with direct relevance to core topics in dermatology and additional relevance to cosmetics, beauty and the skin care industry. Specifically, these systems provide the basis for delivering personalized products and recommendations tailored to match skin types and status of individual customers, based on digital data and associated insights, with the smartphone as an interactive portal. Additional capabilities are in precise characterization of the skin to guide medical care for various skin conditions and disorders. My talk will begin with a brief review of our recent past work in this area, with a focus on skin-like ‘tattoos’ for monitoring sun exposure and the world’s smallest digital sensors for measuring ultraviolet and blue light in the context of skin phototherapy and erythropoietic protoporphyria. The presentation will then transition to next-generation wearable devices designed for precision measurements of the moisture content of skin, its mechanical properties and its pH levels, along with related properties such as near-surface blood flow and skin gaseous emissions (carbon dioxide, water vapor and volatile organic compounds) with an emphasis on applications in skin health and wound care.

Skin Ageing & Challenges 2026
October 28–29, 2026 – Málaga, Spain
www.skin-challenges.com

We are pleased to announce Prof. Daniel S. Roh from Boston University Chobanian & Avedisian School of Medicine, USA will join the meeting and will present a talk about Can Senolytics Rejuvenate Ageing Skin? From Cellular Senescence to Improved Tissue Repair.

Skin Ageing & Challenges 2026
October 28–29, 2026 – Málaga, Spain
www.skin-challenges.com

We are pleased to announce Prof. Marvin Edeas, from the Université Paris Cité, France, will join the Skin Ageing & Challenges 2026 congress and will give presentation entitled “The Future of Skin Longevity: Restoring Biological Dialogue“.

A more scientific and visionary version:

Skin longevity emerges from the dynamic communication between mitochondria, cellular metabolism, immune pathways, the microbiome, and environmental signals.

This perspective will explore how ageing disrupts these interconnected networks and how restoring biological dialogue may become a new strategy to preserve skin resilience, function, and healthspan.

We are pleased to announce Dr. Manuel Rodríguez-Paredes from the German Cancer Research Center, Germany will join the meeting and will present a talk about TapeLift: Non-Invasive Epigenetic Profiling for Skin Ageing and Cancer Risk.

Skin Ageing & Challenges 2026
October 28–29, 2026 – Málaga, Spain
www.skin-challenges.com

We are pleased to announce Prof. Jean Krutmann from Leibniz Research Institute for Environmental Medicine, Germany, will join the Skin Ageing & Challenges 2026 congress and will give presentation entitled “The Future of Skin Longevity: From Exposome Science to Precision Prevention“.

We are pleased to announce Prof. Shigefumi Okamoto from the University of Osaka Graduate School of Medicine, Japan join the Skin Ageing & Challenges 2026 congress and will give presentation entitled “Understanding Skin Aging from an Ecosystem Perspective: Biological Dialogue between the Host Environment and Microorganisms“.

Summary of the presentation:

Aging is accompanied by progressive alterations in skin barrier function, immune regulation, tissue repair, and other physiological properties of the skin. Recent studies have demonstrated age-associated changes in the skin microbiome; however, these alterations appear to be influenced not only by chronological aging but also by frailty and deterioration in general health. Prof. Okamoto’s epidemiological studies further suggest that the transition to frailty and bedridden conditions is accompanied by substantial changes in both skin physiology and microbial communities. Although age-related changes in the host skin environment and skin microbiome have been extensively investigated, their biological interactions and clinical implications remain incompletely understood.

In this lecture, Prof. Okamoto will revisit two apparently distinct clinical conditions—post-pressure injury infection and invasive Streptococcus dysgalactiae subsp. equisimilis (SDSE) infection—from the perspective of the aging skin ecosystem. Post-pressure injury infection represents a typical endogenous infection associated with disruption of the resident microbiota and impairment of the skin barrier. In contrast, invasive SDSE infection is generally regarded as an exogenous infection. However, accumulating microbiological, epidemiological, and experimental evidence suggests that age-related alterations in the skin environment may facilitate the transient colonization, persistence, invasion, and pathogenic expression of SDSE. These observations raise the possibility that endogenous and exogenous infections are not entirely independent but instead represent different clinical manifestations arising from a common ecological transition in aging skin.

Based on these observations, Prof. Okamoto proposes not a new disease model but a shift in perspective for understanding skin infection in older adults. Rather than viewing skin infection solely as microbial invasion following tissue damage, he emphasizes the need to investigate the ecological changes that precede clinically apparent infection. Understanding how aging influences the biological dialogue among the host skin environment, resident microorganisms, immune responses, and potentially invasive pathogens may provide a more integrated framework for explaining susceptibility to skin infection. Such an ecological perspective could help bridge microbiology, dermatology, wound healing, and geriatric medicine, ultimately contributing to preventive strategies aimed not only at eliminating pathogens but also at maintaining or restoring a resilient skin ecosystem. Prof. Okamoto hopes this perspective will stimulate further discussion and collaborative research toward preserving skin health and preventing skin injury and infection in older adults.

Skin Ageing & Challenges 2026
October 28–29, 2026 – Málaga, Spain
www.skin-challenges.com

We are pleased to announce Dr. Mikołaj Ogrodnik from Ludwig Boltzmann Institute for Traumatology, Austria, join the Skin Ageing & Challenges 2026 congress and will give presentation entitled “When Repair Becomes Ageing: Cellular Senescence, Wound Healing and Skin Longevity“.

Summary of Talk:

Tissue injury triggers coordinated repair programs that unfold across time and space, yet the mechanisms determining whether damage resolves through regeneration or progresses to chronic dysfunction remain incompletely understood. We recently investigated how injury-induced cellular states, particularly distinct early-onset senescence programs and the rapid induction of mTOR signaling, intersect with aging to shape wound-healing outcomes.

This research defines injury-associated signaling zones and maps their spatiotemporal dynamics to elucidate how local microenvironments guide cell-fate decisions during acute repair and persistent remodeling. We have examined the roles of early versus late senescence in directing tissue recovery and identified molecular and metabolic switches, including ribosomal signaling, that bias healing toward restoration or fibrosis in skin. In those studies, we integrated transgenic and wild-type preclinical models of wound healing and aging with tissue engineering and bioinformatics approaches, including single-cell transcriptomics. Collectively, these experimental strategies offer promise for advancing our understanding of the molecular mechanisms governing cutaneous damage responses and may enable their modulation to improve healing and skin longevity.

Skin Ageing & Challenges 2026
October 28–29, 2026, in Málaga, Spain
www.skin-challenges.com

We are pleased to announce Dr. Jingjing Xia from IUF – Leibniz Research Institute for Environmental Medicine, Germany, join the Skin Ageing & Challenges 2026 congress and will give presentation entitled “Skin Microbiome Ecology: From Cohort Profiling to Mechanistic Insight“.

This talk presents a research arc from large-scale cohort profiling to functional mechanism. Through a Shanghai population study, we mapped stable skin microbiota cutotypes and experimentally validated bacterial taxa causally linked to skin aging; mechanistically, we found that Cutibacterium acnes sustains barrier integrity through a tryptophan metabolite acting via AHR signaling. Underpinned by a standardized skin surface metabolomics platform, this study advances an ecological framework that moves beyond microbial cataloging toward the interaction principles defining skin health and disease.